


Open Your Wings

by QwillReign



Series: Wings and Flyte [4]
Category: Septimus Heap - Angie Sage
Genre: After the Young Army, Alternate Universe, Bonding, Book One: Magyk, Gen, Marcia is a Mum, Second half before Pathfinder, Septimus is Brilliant, Wings, Wings AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:42:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28094853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QwillReign/pseuds/QwillReign
Summary: The boy was silent, and his wings were entangled in a metal net.Marcia had to do something.
Relationships: Septimus Heap & Marcia Overstrand
Series: Wings and Flyte [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1991479
Comments: 8
Kudos: 13





	1. Free your Wings...

The poor Young Army boy wouldn’t speak. Marcia knew he was scared, so she acted carefully. She replaced his clothes and tried to make him comfortable. She eventually managed to coax his name- no, it was not a name- his number, out of him. She had never been good with children, and this child was even more perplexing, so Marcia moved slowly, spoke softly, and treated the child, for he was only a child, with as much caution and respect as she could muster. It was, she imagined, much the same as you would do for a hurt animal. 

Then she saw his wings. The poor dear’s wings were bound, like the rest of the young army. Marcia’s heart throbbed, her wings were her pride and joy. Imagining not being able to fly, to soar with the wind, to be free, was painful. Marcia moved to remove them. She had yet to touch the child, and with the Princess watching along, wide-eyed and confused. “Can I free your wings?”

The boy jumped up, eyes wide slowly backing away from her, frantically shaking his head. “Do you want me to vanish the net? Like the clothes?”

She received only a blank stare in return. “Ok, I’m going to do it. Stop me if you don’t want it. 3...2...1...” The Magyk failed her. She tried again. 

Nothing. Marcia tried a third time and gave up. Someone very good had charmed these nets, and upon further inspection, she sensed they had Darke Magyk upon them. “They won’t vanish. I can remove them now, or we can wait. Which do you want?” 

The child, very tentatively, shook his head. Murcia left him alone and brought both children hot soup and tea. They sat in silence for a while, until that darned Silas Heap came bursting through the door, and the rush for survival was on. 

Marcia had been at Keeper’s Cottage for a few weeks now, and the young army child had remained silent ever since. He had not allowed anyone near his wings, although Marcia thought he was more responsive now. 

She decided to try again. 

“Child,” Marcia whispered, “Would you like the nets off your wings now? It will be much more comfortable.” 

He was looking at her with interest now, and Marcia hesitantly continued. She padded over to him, and explained all the wonderful things he could do with freed wings. When the child nodded, Marcia moved behind him, careful to narrate to him her actions to the obviously nervous little one. 

“I’m just undoing some of the knots now, to start loosening it a bit. Some of the metal is going to have to be cut, but your wings won’t be touched, I promise. Is that ok?”

The boy nodded, but Marcia could see that he was scared now. “Hey,” she whispered, kneeling in front of him. “As soon as we’re done we can groom those wings, does that sound ok? You can go spread those beautiful wings, and wrap yourself up if you want to. Does that sound like a nice plan to you? ”

He seemed reassured, at least Marcia thought so. She wasn’t very good with kids and was always doubting herself when it came to reading them. Marcia stood again, and continued to remove the hated chains from the poor boy’s wings, unconsciously humming a tune her mother used to sing. 

“Fly now my darling, open your wings,  
Rested ave they been, hiding from winds,  
Reach, to the sky, open your heart and fly.”

Suddenly, she realized that she was done. Marcia shook herself, embarrassed to be singing, grateful that no one was in the hut beside herself and the child. “Would you like me to comb them, or leave it to you?”

The child drew the newly freed wings around himself, and silently reached for the comb. Marcia watched him, and continued the song, as the afternoon wore on seemingly forever, a quiet sense of comfort and happiness radiation from them both. 

“See the whole world, let it grow dim,  
as you rise up, look from within,  
Don’t let the quiet blow off your whims,  
Open your heart, Open your wings. ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little snippet, make sure to look out for more soon ( hopefully :) ) Let me know what you thought!


	2. ...And Fly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Septimus finished his masterpiece. Now, he can help Marcia, just like she helped him all those years ago.

“Done!” Septimus looked up at Jenna, who was perched on a stool several feet away, reading her little red book, The Queen’s Rules. It was an annoying book, but it was nice to have company, and it’s not like she was reading out loud. 

“Really? That’s amazing! Are you going to try them out?” Jenna sounded nearly as excited as Septimus did. 

“No, these ones are for someone else first. My wings are Damaged, but I never flew. As much as I want to, not knowing how to fly will rather limit my assessment, don’t you think?” Septimus smiled softly. “Besides Jen, Marcia has been longing to fly again for years. I see it all the time, even if she thinks she is hiding it. The sheer joy when she rides Spitfire with me alone shows it.” He gathered up the prosthetic wings and made towards the exit of the palace. They were a surprise, so he had been working there under the pretense of visiting Jenna. Being a full wizard definitely had its benefits, and one of them was the freedom of movement. 

If it had been a few years earlier, Septimus would definitely have been stared at, he mused. But the residents of the castle were used to him now, and the sight of a Heap with strange things wasn’t remarkable anymore, nor limited to only Septimus. A few traders and tourists from the port stared as he walked past, but Septimus paid them no mind, firmly focused on getting to the Wizard Tower. 

He hurried through the great doors, paying no mind at all to the congratulatory message from the floor. Hopping onto the stairs, Septimus did something he tied to avoid as much as possible. Perhaps overusing his status as Marcia’s Heir, Sptimus set the Stairs to Extra Fast, just under the dreaded Emergency level, which he knew would make the ordinary wizards absolutely irate. Running through the door to their rooms (Septimus had yet to move out after the completion of his apprenticeship), he yelled. 

“Marcia! Marcia!!” She was not in the main rooms. Septimus quickly knocked on her bedroom door, then scrambled up the ladder to the library, which was also empty. Just as he was starting to do a Search for her, Marcia walked through the door. 

“Septimus! ” she admonished, “why on earth did you speed up the stairs so much? You knocked off three Wizards!” pausing, she seemed to noticed his very full arms. “And what on earth is that? ”

“I did it! I did it, Marcia! Turn around and hold your arms out.” 

Bemused, she did as Septimus asked, but continued to question him incessantly. Marcia normally wouldn’t have let anyone near her back, always afraid that they would do something to her. Septimus near her wing stub, attaching something to it no less, should have been uncomfortable, it should have been terrifying. But it wasn’t, because this was Septimus, and Marcia trusted him completely.

Finally, Septimus stepped back. There was a heavy, but not uncomfortable, almost familiar weight to it. “I did my best,” Septimus said, “But we’ll still have to make adjustments. ”

Marcia twisted, and her face lit up in shock. “What?” she breathed, “Septimus, is that a wing?” 

“Yes,” He said. “Yes Marcia, you are going to fly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Don't forget to let me know what you think! Chronologically, this second chapter should be just before the fic Just Like Her, but it was part of this story, and I think it goes better here. The parallelism between Marcia helping Septimus and Septimus helping her really felt right. I hope you enjoyed it, and you should go read the rest of the series if you haven't! All the authors are amazing!


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